The Instrument of Evil
by Zokolov
Summary: For all her life, Latias has only known her brother, Latios, who has warned her not to trust humans. Latias wants to believe that there are good humans around too, but her first encounter with them is far from pleasant... *oneshot*


**THE INSTRUMENT OF EVIL**

It was 5:30 in the morning, a few minutes after sunrise, and Mirage Island bathed in sunlight. This small island covered by trees, patches of thick grass, bushes and a small pond was one of the most searched places in all of Hoenn. Only appearing on few days a year and being surrounded by dangerous currents and whirlpools, no human had ever set foot on the island, though a few of the oldest residents in Pacifidlog Town had tried. Many ended up accidentally returning where they started from, while the less fortunate disappeared for good. While the whirlpools, currents and the distant location made it obvious that searching the island by boat was a bad idea, how did every single helicopter and airplane end up somehow missing the island or being forced to crash-land seconds before finding it?

The answers were just about to land on the island.

Two bird-like Pokémon with round bodies and long necks folded their jet-plane wings and started drinking water from the pond. The one with a blue upper body, Latios, drank moderately and kept looking up occasionally, his eyes shifting back and forth. His sister, Latias, whose upper body was mainly red and whose eyes were bigger than her brother's, kept drinking like she was dying from thirst.

"_You know the drill, sis,_" Latios told his sister – his mouth didn't move, but Latias still heard every word, though she didn't seem to acknowledge them. "_No one comes here, neither Pokémon nor human. I would have preferred you to stay at Southern Island…_"

"_Bro, you gotta have more of this water!_" Latias responded telepathically, having presumably ignored everything what her brother had just told her. "_Best water in Hoenn!_"

"_LATIAS!_"

"_What? Oh, right, yeah… but this is the last day Mirage Island can be seen, right? This has been pretty boring… the Wynaut are perfectly safe, we haven't seen any humans or anything… what is the big deal with you and humans anyway?_"

"_You just can't trust them_," Latios stated and looked up in the sky, ready to blast any aircraft away with his Luster Purge.

"_Well what would they want with these Wynaut?_" Latias asked and stared at her brother wide-eyed.

Latios still didn't look at his sister. His ears kept moving as he listened for voices from every direction. Finally, he replied. "_Sis, you and I live for eons_," Latios said. "_Humans live for about a century. Some choose to spending their time on this planet making world a better place, some decide to just keep calm, love their close ones and trying to be as good as they can be in their everyday life…_"

Now Latios turned to his sister, looking at her sadly. "_But most_," he said, "_want to get as much material wealth as possible. Wynaut is a rare Pokémon and this island is an untouched place. Any one of us would be worth a fortune to the humans. And they won't stop at anything to get what they want. They're ready to hurt these Pokémon, and us, if necessary. You can't trust humans, sis. You just can't_."

Latias rolled her eyes. "_You can't say _everyone _is like that_," she argued and pushed her brother. "_There are plenty of good humans, too, I'm sure. You know, I haven't even talked to a human in seven hundred years. I'd like to know what they're like._"

Latias kept looking around him, not staying still for a second. "_Yeah, well,_" he said, "_I wouldn't recommend that. I wonder why we haven't seen any Wynaut to-_"

Latias didn't notice what happened at first – she had leaned over to drink some more water. But when she suddenly heard nothing from her brother and heard a loud thud next to her, she turned to look – and almost screamed.

A small dart had hit Latios' neck. Whatever it contained, Latios' eyes were only half-open and he didn't move a muscle when Latias started shaking him.

"_Latios! Latios! Wake up!_"

Latias opened her wings and looked wildly around her, trying to see where the dart came from. The grass around her rustled wildly as humans in gray, spacesuit-like uniforms popped out and approached her and Latios. Latias tried to pick up her brother and fly away, but could only get a few inches above grounds when more mysterious darts flew towards her, many of them hitting her in the neck. Latias felt everything becoming blurry and dark and her strength was waning rapidly, but she still tried to pull Latios off the ground.

When that failed, Latias collapsed and was surrounded by a dozen humans, both male and female, all with identical uniforms and haircuts. Latias could see a yellow 'G' on the uniforms. Then, tight ropes appeared to tie her wings to her body and the humans started to drag her away. From the corner of her eye, Latias could see a man who towered above the others with a slightly different uniform. He had dark blue hair, cold, blue eyes and more black in his outfit.

"Commander Saturn," one of the humans said and saluted the man. "We have captured the objective. What should we do with the other one?"

Saturn's briefly glanced both of the Eon twins before addressing the grunt that spoke to him.

"The boss clearly spoke of only one," Saturn said. "The red one. And our enemies might comb this place for any valuables as soon as we leave… get rid of the blue one. And prepare my airship! I need to take this one to Dr. Charon…"

Latias couldn't use any of her attacks – even her mouth was tied shut and she was on the verge of fainting. But what she saw next made her wish she would already lose consciousness. A group of five grunts surrounded Latios' body – his eyes were closed, but he still seemed to be breathing. The grunts all carried backpacks attached to some kind of tube-like weapons – and when Latias saw what she saw next, she would have screamed if she could have.

The tubes shot intense flames towards Latios, engulfing him in fire within seconds. Latias couldn't look away, her eyes widened in horror… and then she mercifully fainted.

**~o~O~~**

"_Change a Pokémon's type? You can't be serious, Charon!_"

"_With all due respect, sir, you gave me unlimited resources. You yourself stated that my research should only be limited by my imagination._"

Latias hadn't opened her eyes yet. She knew she had been asleep for hours, possibly a whole day. She was still constrained, and she could hear muffled voices from nearby.

"_Far be it from me to criticize my head scientist, Charon, but you have yet to succeed with these experiments of yours. Didn't all your other test subjects end up in the, ah… compost?_"

"_This is why I requested you to catch me a legendary Pokémon, sir. Make sure you congratulate Commander Saturn for me. All those Bidoof and Pidove were far too weak. This way, we both get what we want. You get the general for your little private army and I get to finish my experiment. By the way, sir, while I know that Saturn is good with tasks like breaking a man's fingers until he talks, I did not expect him to actually succeed in a task that required a two-digit I.Q._ _How did he manage to capture this magnificent creature?_"

"_That's my business. You do what you were paid to do. I need to get back to Sinnoh. You're in charge here, Charon. Have Saturn fortify the defenses of this place._"

"_Yes, sir. Of course, sir!_"

Sounds of footsteps… a door opening and closing… then more footsteps… getting louder by every step…

Latias finally opened her eyes.

She tried to move, but felt only splitting pain her wings. She could only rotate her neck around a little to see what had happened. Latias was now held in a large, white and completely sterile room. There were doors on every wall, but Latias was separated from them by glass walls – she seemed to be in a large glass cube in the middle of the room. There were no windows around.

At first Latias thought she was floating in mid-air. Then she realized there were restraints all around her body, as well as harnesses attached to the ceiling. Furthermore, her wings, her arms and her stomach were all connected to machinery through numerous wires and tubes. Latias tried moving, and would have screamed from pain if her mouth hadn't been tightly shut – the wires and tubes seemed to extend beneath her skin.

Latias turned her head again as she was approached by an aging, hunchbacked man. The man had a lab coat over the same uniform that the men who captured Latias wore. The scientist, Charon, adjusted his red-tinted glasses as he looked up at Latias and smiled.

"My, my, you are a pretty one, aren't you?" Charon said without taking his eyes off Latias – he didn't even blink. "Welcome, Latias. You have been chosen by Cyrus of Team Galactic to take part in my experiment. You will have the honor of pushing the boundaries of science further than any Pokémon or human has ever done. I would advise against trying to escape… but just in case, I'll have sedatives pumped into your body once every hour."

Charon paced around Latias while keeping a constant eye on her features. Latias didn't know why this had happened… it had to be a dream, humans couldn't have just captured her, imprisoned her, hurt her like this and… do _that_ to her brother.

"Well, then, let's not waste time," Charon announced and rubbed his hands together.

Charon flicked a switch somewhere, but kept his unblinking stare at Latias, watching her flail in agony as she suddenly felt a freezing sensation inside her. Strange black liquid were pumped into her body through the tubes attached to her. The liquid flowed into her veins, making Latias black out.

But she didn't stay unconscious for long. During the next three days, Charon kept coming into her chamber, always ready with new experiments. It was like Charon didn't even require any sleep, only leaving Latias' chamber for an hour at a time. No other scientists were let into the room, only two Galactic Grunts served as guards while Charon continued his twisted experiments. Whenever Latias regained enough strength to try and use her psychic abilities to destroy the harnesses, Charon was ready to sedate her, and whenever the pain of the injections was about to make Latias pass out, Charon injected her with various substances that kept her awake and aware.

On the third day, Latias stopped trying to use her powers. She kept her eyes closed and her body limp as Charon came up with new injections. Some made her body temperature drop dangerously low, others caused a burning sensation inside of her. One injection blinded her for an hour, but nothing could stop Charon's painful speeches that he delivered with a monotone voice between the experiments:

"You may not know this, but you and your brother have caused a lot of trouble for our leader these past few years. We have been watching you for some time. We know he was the only connection you had to the rest of the world. That is why he had to die. You are now alone, and in your rightful place. For far too long, a group of Pokémon has been under the illusion that they're better than humanity. They truly seem to think that they can escape our control. Pokémon are in this world for one reason only – to serve _us_! And that is what will happen when our leader has brought upon his perfect world. _You_ will be a warning example to the rest of your kind, the so-called 'legendary Pokémon'."

Latias tried not to listen, to shut herself from the world. At first, she tried to stop resisting, tried to get used to the pain, but Charon always found ways to torment her more. Whenever an injection caused Latias to lose consciousness, Charon would administer electric shocks directly into her brain.

When five days had passed, Latias only stopped resisting in the hope that one of the injections would end her suffering altogether.

And yet, even though every positive thought seemed to be drained out of her and every source of strength seemed to have faded, Latias still remained alive, conscious and worst of all, completely lucid. She wasn't given any food or water either, so Latias reasoned that dehydration would kill her eventually.

She knew nothing about the history of her species or about Pokémon in general. During the centuries that she and Latios had traveled together, Latias had lost all track of time. Every day was the same – fly to a new location, stay at her brother's side or in a safe location, eat, drink, sleep and occasionally communicate with the local Pokémon. And yet, despite this routine, every day felt like a new adventure, as her brother was there with her. Latios had always kept her away from the rest of the world… and now there was no way to thank him for that.

One night, after exactly a week had passed, Charon was called to a meeting in Sinnoh. For the first time since her capture, Latias was left alone as the guards were positioned elsewhere. It's not like Latias could break her restraints and smash the blast-proof glass around her in her current state anyway. The lights around the glass cube were off, but inside it, an extremely bright halogen lamp was constantly on, allowing Charon to monitor Latias' every feature. The sharp, undulating pain in her wings, back and head kept her awake, only allowing her brief periods of sleep whenever Charon injected overly potent sedatives into her.

_What did I do to deserve this? What do they want from me? Why can't this all just stop?_

To Latias' surprise, a soft, familiar voice responded to her from the darkness: "_Most things are just beyond our control_."

Latias couldn't believe it. Though the experiments had damaged her eyesight, she could still recognize the figure that approached her, even though they were just blurry outlines.

"_L-latios_," Latias whispered. "_I thought…_"

"_I did warn you about humans, didn't I?_" Latios said. Despite the situation, his voice had a hint of laughter to it. "_Well, live and learn. Come on._"

"_But… where?_"

"_Home, sis_," Latios said. "_We're going home_."

And with that, Latios, or something that resembled him at any rate, flew out of the room. The next thing Latias realized was that the harnesses, restraints, tubes, wires and even the glass cube around her were gone. Without feeling any pain at all, Latias could spread her wings and follow her brother out of the room. And yet, something seemed… off. The moment they left the room, they were back on Mirage Island. Everything seemed darker than usual, but Latias couldn't tell whether it was day or night.

"_Latios_…" Latias said uncertainly, as her brother didn't say anything, just stared forward. "_What are we doing here? Is this home?_"

"_No_," Latios responded bluntly. "_Home is where I am now. I just needed to show you something_._ Look_."

Latios turned its head, and Latias tried to see what he was looking at. Mirage Island was the same as it ever was, except completely empty now.

No, not empty. There was something on the ground, motionless, but in the shape of a Pokémon… only with large chunks of it charred, burned away. Latias felt sick – she didn't want to look at it anymore, as she knew exactly what it was.

"_I'm…"_ Latias said, trying to hold back tears. "_I'm sorry, I…_"

"_Don't be_," Latios said calmly. "_Just accept it. That thing there will soon be washed away by the tides, but it is not me. Not anymore. Now I'm… well, everywhere, really. I always thought how good it was that I could be away from the influence of humans and other Pokémon, free to roam the world. But only now I'm _truly_ free._"

"_I want to be free too_," Latias said weakly.

"_You can be. But first of all, you have to do one thing_."

"_What's that?_"

"_Wake up, sis_."

**~o~O~o~**

Latias opened her eyes as the effects of the sedatives started to wear off. The pain returned twice as bad, but it was nothing compared to what she felt when she realized that Latios wasn't there anymore.

For the first time in a week, Latias turned her head a little and opened her eyes completely. With the lights in the rest of the room off, Latias could see her reflection from the glass. But what stared back was someone… some_thing_ completely different. Her old, beautiful, round body was now deformed and skeletal, all shine on her scales gone. It was like every bone in her body was visible, and her usually bright red scales were now much darker in color, almost black. And her eyes… her pupils and irises seemed to be gone, and her eyes were now milky white and empty.

"A terrible sight, isn't it?"

Latias jerked her head in the direction of the sound. It came from somewhere around the darkened room, but it wasn't Charon. It wasn't Latias either – this voice was deep and booming, unlike any human or Pokémon sound Latias had heard before.

The source of the voice soon made himself visible as he stepped closer to Latias. A large human man with pale, waxy skin and black hair, wearing a black trench coat. He leaned to the outer wall of the glass cube and watched Latias peacefully, while Latias just looked away in disappointment. Just another human who had come to gloat.

"_Go away_," Latias sighed. She knew humans were incapable of telepathy, but just couldn't bring herself to care.

The man's reaction surprised her completely, however:

"No, I'm afraid not," the man said and gave Latias an unsettling smile. "Locating you took quite an effort."

Latias stared at the man. "_You… you can…_"

"Of course I can understand you," the man said and started pacing around the glass cube. He talked casually, like he was making small-talk at a dinner table. "I understand why this form would put you a bit off-balance, though. I've been forced to appear in the guise of this man for some time now… but if all goes as planned, I should be able to show this world my true form very soon. But I didn't come here to talk about myself, much as I love doing it… let's talk about you."

Latias just stared.

"Quite a pickle you've gotten yourself into, Latias," the man smiled. "That's the way it is with humans, though. I hoped you listened to your brother."

"_How do you-_"

"Now, take this scientist, Charon, for instance," the man interrupted. "He doesn't care that you're a living being, or that someone somewhere may have once loved you, or that you were once someone's sister, or that you have thoughts and opinions of your own. To him, you're merely a stepping stone to personal glory…or so I think anyway. An intriguing one, he is. Unlike most humans, he doesn't seem to be after money or status. Who knows… maybe he just gets kicks out of this?"

The man laughed, and Latias shuddered. Doing horrible things to Charon had been in Latias' mind for some time now, but this one seemed different: utterly blasé about the horrible things that happened to her. Latias was reminded of a story her brother told her once. It was about The Devil, or The Beast, who would turn up to claim your soul upon your death in the form of something seemingly harmless but utterly evil.

"The Devil?" the man laughed again, catching Latias off-guard. "Oh, no. Although I must admit that there are humans and Pokémon out there who often like to imagine me as such. I guess I should be flattered. The Beast is more accurate, I suppose, but I'm not here to take your soul, Latias. I'm here to help you find it. To help you uncover your _true_ self. I'm your friend, Latias, and you can call me Giratina."

Latias' expression remained blank as the man stared at her unrelentingly.

"Haven't heard of me?" the man asked. "I would think your brother, of all Pokémon, would at least mention something… your brother was quite extraordinary, I have to say. He dedicated his life to protecting his kind from humans, and I admired him for that. Sadly, he was also unable to see things my way. He didn't seem to agree to my plan, even though it would ensure the freedom of all Pokémon, away from the rule of humans. And look what happened – now he's dead and you're being tortured here. And I assure you, Latias, it won't end anytime soon. Death is not an option here – even without food or water, you'll be likely to outlive Charon, but others will soon continue his work."

Latias closed her eyes. The man's words were even more painful than Charon's. And worst of all, she was unable to stop listening. Somehow… everything the man said made sense.

"_I just… I just want this to end_," Latias said as a single tear rolled down her cheek. "_I want to be with my brother again_."

"We both know that the latter part is impossible," the man continued relentlessly. "And we both know he wouldn't want you obsessing about him. As for the first part… it can be arranged. You can end it all, and you can honor your brother by finishing the work he started. Save our kind from the humans and all Pokémon who stand by their side. If we succeed… both you and your brother can finally be at peace."

"_But how? I'm stuck in this place!_"

"You are only limited by your will to survive. In this case, a little luck helps too. I've given you a little push, as you can see. The rest is up to you."

Both Latias and the man paused, as they heard something from the corridor outside the room: steadily loudening footsteps.

"If I'm not mistaken," the man said quickly, "the two grunts guarding this room have been given new orders: to give you a little water every day to make sure you stay alive. Make of that what you will, Latias. Farewell for now."

The man bowed, and suddenly disappeared, only leaving behind a black cloud of smoke that faded quickly. Latias turned her head to see her left wing. To her surprise, the restraints of the wing had come off. When the grunts weren't looking, Latias used her wing to cut off the restraints around her mouth, but remained otherwise immobile, pretending to be asleep. Soon enough, the armored door opens, the lights were turned on and two Galactic Grunts stepped into the room.

"Man, are you sure we can just open the cube?" the other one asked nervously. "It's a _legendary_ Pokémon after all. All we have is a couple of Croagunk and Bronzor. Oh, and a crapload of Zubat, of course, but the only they can do is annoy the enemy to death."

"Okay, first of all, don't diss Zubat, they're awesome," the second grunt replied. "Secondly, haven't you heard about that freaky stuff Charon has done to this one? It hardly has enough energy to stay alive, it's not gonna attack us. Open the cube, I'll give it the water. The doc says that its instinctive reaction is to drink it. When it's finished, we'll chain its mouth shut."

"If the doc says so… okay. Opening the doors."

Latias kept her eyes closed as she heard the sound of the cube's doors opening and the grunt approaching her with a bucket filled with cold water.

"Wake up, ugly!" the grunt yelled. "Time for a… hey, who took off the restr-"

The two grunts barely had a second to react as Latias fired her Mist Ball at them. The impact of the attack sent the grunts flying, but Latias didn't stay around to check whether they were alive or dead. She fired another one at the restraints around her right wing, allowing her to cut off all the tubes and wires connecting her to the machinery with one smooth motion. The pain was about to overwhelm her, made it almost impossible to think, and yet Latias was able to spread her wings and fly away from the room and away from the base, guided only by her lust for revenge.

Whatever Charon had done to her… it paled in comparison with what Latias had planned for him.

* * *

**A/N: I hope y'all like it. Props to _Ardtornismyname_ for giving me the idea (among various others) and being very supportive of me. This story is dedicated to him. I will continue to make oneshots that deal with Giratina while trying to update my story _When Worlds Collide_ which basically ties these oneshots together to a plot that at least tries to be epic. Thanks for reading, and honest feedback is greatly appreciated!**


End file.
